Crime and Law

James Ellis, Wilton Manors Ponzi Pitchman, Sentenced to Federal Prison

James F. "Jim" Ellis, the Ponzi pitchman who duped his Wilton Manors friends of $10 million, was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in federal prison. Ellis, 70, worked for fraudster and former day trader George Elia and used Elia's wealth as a means to convince friends to invest money, even some ... More >>

John Goodman's Lawyers Want a New Trial

Polo mogul John Goodman's lawyers want a new trial for their client, who was sentenced for DUI manslaughter, failure to render aid, and vehicular homicide after he ran a stop sign and killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson. The reason the lawyers are seeking a new trial: One of the jurors apparently wrote ... More >>

Man Robbed a Gas Station and Some Waffle Houses to Pay for Girlfriend's Probation

Escambia County cops busted 22-year-old Marquis C. Baldwin after he spent three months entering four different businesses with a rifle and demanding money from the employees. Baldwin allegedly nicked a Kangaroo gas station a Waffle House and another Waffle House with a rifle that turned out to not ... More >>

James Tracy, FAU Professor, Says Sandy Didn't Happen; Revels In Notoriety

Americans have long tolerated if not wallowed in conspiracy theories. Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't alone when he shot Kennedy. Aliens landed in Area 51. We never got to the moon, etc. etc. But quite possibly the most despicable and callous of all conspiracy theories recently rose from South Florida. Ja ... More >>

FAU's James Tracy: More Media Conspiracies and Lunacy. Fire This Guy Fast. UPDATED

Turns out James Tracy, the Florida Atlantic University professor who theorized the Sandy Hook massacre might be a mass media conspiracy, has a history of paranoid weirdness.Students say the guy went off in class. And his academic work hints at how someone could go so off the tracks. In a book review ... More >>

Manuel Pardo, Former Florida Cop, To Be Executed Tuesday

In April of 1986, the body of Daisy Ricard was found in a secluded wooded area in Hialeah. She had been shot in the head by two different .22 caliber pistols. The following day, the body of her boyfriend, Ramon Alvero, was discovered in the trunk of a car about a mile away from where Daisy had been ... More >>

New Details on Alleged Sexual Harassment by Craig Ferguson, Former Thompson Academy Director

The former director of boys' lockup Thompson Academy, Renza "Craig" Ferguson, resigned under a cloud of suspicion in March. Staff members had made allegations that he was transporting young male inmates off campus and bringing them home to shower. See also: - Our cover story on abuse at Thompson A ... More >>

Federal Tax Loopholes: They're Like a Mafia Protection Scheme Where Big Corporations Profit

Fraudster Lee Ervin Dale Got Some More Names -- and Their Tax Refund Checks

Having three first names would seem to be enough. Wrong. At least if you are Lee Ervin Dale, 30, of Fort Lauderdale, who has been charged with 14 counts of identity theft in his efforts to get other people's tax refunds.Look. We know the thing about Florida is that you can pretend to be whoever you ... More >>

Banking on the Disabled: Serial Filer of Lawsuits Saves the Disabled... and Makes Some Bucks

James Mozie, Proprietor of Oakland Park Kiddie-Sex Den, Gets Life in Prison

The sentence for 35-year-old James Mozie was handed down in federal court yesterday: life in prison, plus ten years of supervised release. Dude's going to have a parole officer in the afterlife.Mozie was convicted in December of one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, eight cou ... More >>

Armed Man Killed by Police in Pompano Beach

​Not much to report here yet, but what has been released so far is that a man was shot and killed by a Broward County sheriff's deputy around 6:30 last night.Police were called to an apartment building on the 800 block of SE 22nd Avenue last night, where they found the suspect pointing a handgun a ... More >>

Slavery by Another Name in Florida

​Last year, when Gov. Rick Scott and his cabinet enacted an archaic ban on the voting rights of ex-felons, supporters called the ban colorblind. They said making nonviolent felons wait five years after completing their sentences to apply for the right to vote again had nothing to do with Florida's ... More >>

Florida's DWI Law Revision Could Lead to Conviction of Sober People

​Under proposed revisions to Florida law, drivers could be hit with DWI charges even if they were totally sober while they were driving, according to an interpretation by a Broward County DWI lawyer.SB 1810 is sitting in several Florida Senate committees and would revise the state's law regarding ... More >>

Florida Is Number Three in the Nation! (In Registered Sex Offenders)

​For what it's worth, there are only two states in the nation with more registered sex offenders than Florida.Florida's 57,896 sex criminals puts the Sunshine State behind only California (106,216) and Texas (68,529), and even though Florida's population is about 400,000 less than New York's, the ... More >>

Prisonville, Florida: Low Taxes and Big Yards, All for the Price of a Box Full of Immigrants

Marco Rubio Dropping His Support of the PROTECT IP Act

Sen. Marco Rubio​That was quick. Less than an hour ago, Sen. Marco Rubio announced he no longer supports the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) -- the Senate version of the Stop Online Privacy (SOPA) -- which he was previously a cosponsor of.As we noted this morning, two South Florida congressional representat ... More >>

Alfred Infosino, 83, Gets 21 Years in the Pen for Beating His Girlfriend to Death With a Battery

​The 83-year-old gentleman who called the cops to let them know he just "drank ammonia" and beat his 77-year-old girlfriend to death with a flashlight battery is going to prison for a while.A jury found Alfred Infosino guilty last month of second-degree murder in the beating death of Rita Chirel, ... More >>

Occupy Fort Lauderdale Granted Temporary Injunction Over City's New Rules

​Yesterday, a new rule introduced to Fort Lauderdale's policy and standards manual was posted in a courtyard in front of City Hall -- where the Occupy camp has set up shop.Check out a slide show of the Occupy camp here.The rule bans tents from the area and bans people from being in the public spac ... More >>

Broward Sex Offenders Get a Pre-Halloween Visit From Probation Officers -- 16 Arrested

theblogulator.com...with a samurai sword.​There are some people you'd rather not have your kids approach for candy on Halloween -- like a registered sex offender with a 3 1/2-foot samurai sword.That's probably why probation officers and cops went and checked on some South Broward sex offenders bef ... More >>

Sandro Michel Hit His Wife While She Drove; She Lost Control and Crashed In Lake, He Died

Broward Sheriff's OfficeSandro Michel, shown here after a May arrest for domestic violence, died after hitting his wife while she was driving, causing her to drive into a lake.​A domestic-violence dispute early yesterday morning in Pembroke Park ended with a car plunging into a lake, one man d ... More >>

West Palm Beach Court of Appeal: Toy Guns Don't Constitute Armed Robbery

sandboxworld.comIf this were a bank, this would not be an armed robbery, according to Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal.​According to a decision last week out of Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, an armed robbery isn't really an armed robbery if the "weapon" use ... More >>

Update: One Dead, Two Injured in Shooting at Central Broward Check Cashing Store

Broward Sheriff's OfficeSuspect Stanley Beasley​One person is dead and two others are injured -- including the suspect -- after a shooting broke out during a robbery yesterday morning at a check cashing shop in central Broward County, according to police.The Broward Sheriff's Office says 33-year-o ... More >>

Steve Gonot Sentenced to One Year in Jail, Appeal Under Way

Steve Gonot​Steve Gonot, the former Deerfield Beach commissioner convicted in May of stealing campaign funds and of misconduct charges, was sentenced today to one year in jail.Gonot will be posting $20,000 bond to stay out of jail while the appeals process plays out. He was also sentenced to five ... More >>

Lee Lewis Discovers That Fake Bazookas Are Apparently Illegal in Florida

Miami-Dade CorrectionsLee Lewis​Lee Lewis -- the hearse owner with exotic leather outfits who's accused of bringing traffic to a standstill on the Palmetto Expressway a few weeks ago after allegedly leaving his body-hauler loaded with fake guns and explosives on the side of the road -- has had ano ... More >>

Lauderdale Lakes Shooting: Vishna Beepot Named as Alleged Shooter

BSOVishna Beepot​This morning, the Broward Sheriff's Office announced a shooting inside a Lauderdale Lakes bar -- 12 people were hit by bullets, and two died.The cops now say the alleged shooter is 26-year-old Vishna Beepot, who died shortly after the gun battle that occurred inside the bar.Th ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale Ultrasound Tech Pleads Guilty to Sexually Assaulting a Patient During Exam

pregnancycheck.com​Ivo Diaz, a former ultrasound technician at Fort Lauderdale's Holy Cross Hospital, pleaded guilty late last week to sexually assaulting a woman while she was undergoing an ultrasound in 2009.Diaz, now 43, will serve five years in prison and 12 years of sex-offender probation ... More >>

Sheriff Ric Bradshaw Praises Rick Scott For Supporting Cops

Palm Beach CountySheriff Bradshaw likes Scott.​Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw clearly did not get the memo about local cops hating Gov. Rick Scott. While the Broward County Police Benevolent Association is organizing a massive party for its members to protest Scott and ditch the Florida Re ... More >>

Will Privatizing Prisons Save Florida Money? Arizona Study Says Maybe Not

The GEO Group was a huge donor to political campaigns.​Last month, the Florida Legislature passed a landmark plan to privatize nearly all of the prisons in the southern part of the state, including those in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The bill was a thinly-veiled stimulus package for the priv ... More >>

Illinois Department of Corrections Wants Ryan LeVin To Serve Prison Time

Ryan LeVin​Amid the accusations of Ryan LeVin's escape from prison time as an example of "checkbook justice," he'll get another shot at the slammer.According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Cara Smith -- the chief of staff for the Illinois Department of Corrections -- gave a call down to Broward Cou ... More >>

Dalia Dippolito Lawyer Files for Retrial -- Not Going for Reality TV Defense This Time

Dalia Dippolito​The lawyer for Dalia Dippolito -- the escort who was found guilty of trying to hire an undercover cop to kill her husband -- has filed for a new trial, this time not to focus on the reality TV defense he tried last time around.Her attorney, Michael Salnick, filed a request for a ne ... More >>

Thompson Academy Calls Alleged Sex Assault of Teenager Consensual

Defendants allege the sex was consensual.​The 14-year-old boy who filed a lawsuit alleging he was twice sexually assaulted by a counselor at the Thompson Academy juvenile detention center last year was a willing participant in the encounters, lawyers for the Pembroke Pines center allege.In court d ... More >>

Drunk Driver Charged With Killing A Miami Heat Dancer Is Out Of Jail

​Maybe three deaths a day isn't enough in Florida. An average of three people killed per day is a puny little statistic compared to the seven daily deaths caused by the tsunami of prescription drugs that flooded Florida over the last decade. Nevertheless, drunk driving kills about three Floridians ... More >>

Rick Scott Returns Florida to Reconstruction-Era Racist Voting Law

Rick Scott is showing his Confederate roots.​Remember the 2000 election debacle, when Florida became the laughingstock of the nation? It wasn't just punch-card ballots that caused our fair state such embarrassment. It was the wrongful purging of thousands of voters from the rolls because they were ... More >>

John Gotti's "Adopted Son" Files Legal Malpractice Suit

Lewis Kasman, who for years was the right-hand man and "adopted son" to crime boss John Gotti, says the Mafia has nothing on Florida when it comes to stealing money.Now Kasman, who turned government witness and helped indict dozens of organized crime figures, is looking to get payback from his divor ... More >>

Sentencing Date Set for Mark Steven Phillips, Convicted Drug-Smuggling Fugitive On the Run 31 Years

Mark Steven Phillips​The day of judgment has been set in the case of Mark Phillips, the man who up and left in the middle of one of the biggest pot-smuggling trials in American history -- he was convicted in absentia, went on the run from the law for 31 years, was told his warrants had been cleare ... More >>

Fantasy Voter Fraud

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was dissed by Russell Pearce over Prop 200's dismissal.

Video: Debra Villegas Tells of Rothstein's Affair With Melissa Lewis

On Sunday, we brought you the news of Scott Rothstein's alleged affair with his slain employee, Melissa Britt Lewis. Here's the sworn interview where Debra Villegas, Lewis' best friend and Rothstein's right-hand woman at his now-defunct law firm, tells a Plantation police officer about the affair.N ... More >>

Thompson Academy's Owner Faced Similar Abuse Allegations in Other States

Youth Services InternationalA snapshot from a recent morale-boosting event at Thompson.​Allegations that teenaged inmates were sexually assaulted, malnourished, and physically abused at the Thompson Academy juvenile detention center in Pembroke Pines echo similar accusations the center's owner ha ... More >>

Howard Steven Ault's Claims That an Abnormal Brain Caused Him to Kill Rejected by High Court

Ault may be brain damaged, but he's still going to spend his life in prison.​Howard Steven Ault has an abnormal brain. Defects in areas that process memories and emotions make him incapable of taking in data the way most people do -- common problems among fellow pedophiles. And so, his attorneys h ... More >>

Lauderdale Police Make Child Porn Bust

Frank Richardson​A man who lives at 701 SW 18th Court in Fort Lauderdale has been charged with possession of child pornography after investigators found more than 100 videos and images on his computer that showed children being sexually abused.According to the release by Fort Lauderdale police, Fr ... More >>

Violence at El Toro Loco (Sound Familiar?)

A 23-year-old man has been arrested by the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office in the early Thursday-morning stabbing of a security guard at El Toro Loco. The West Palm Beach-area tavern has been the site of numerous violent encounters over the past year.According to the police report, the suspect is Willia ... More >>

Where the Wild Things Are: A Sex Offender's "Island" in West Broward

Photo: Florida Department of Law EnforcementRandy Young​Where's a sex offender to live in South Florida? Well, judging by the restrictive policies in Broward cities, they should live somewhere else. They just didn't plan on a GPS-wielding sleuth like Randy Young, a former sex offender who places h ... More >>

Gangs of Boynton: B-Town Boy Turned Preacher Man

"Plug" Woody: Killed two preachers​At around 8:15 on a Saturday night late last month, Detective Alex Marino of the Boynton Beach Police Department responded to a call. Two men were lying dead on SW 2nd Ave., both of gunshot wounds. One of the victims was 23-year-old Stephen Ocean. The other, 25-y ... More >>

More Money, More Drama

Jim Leyritz Publicly Denies Responsibility For Drunk Driving Accident

ESPN's Jeremy Schaap (the best sports journalist in television for our money) put together a fantastic package on the former Yankees catcher and one-time World Series hero that included Leyritz's first televised remarks about the drunk driving accident that killed a Fort Lauderdale woman two days ... More >>

Man Shot by Police in Downtown Fort Lauderdale

Details remain vague, but Fort Lauderdale Police are investigated a shooting that occurred near the Broward County bus terminal downtown involving an off-duty officer. From the release:Preliminary investigation has revealed that a Police Sergeant was working an off-duty detail at the Broward County ... More >>

Another Lazy Bank Robber; Nickname Needed

Photo courtesy Broward Sheriff's Office​Fortunately, they're enabled by very lazy bank tellers. Just when we finally nab the withdrawal bandit, South Florida has a new and even more complacent serial thief, who has yet to be formally nicknamed. Above, that's him from his Halloween heist. We'll wor ... More >>

Editor, Interrupted

A favored Hollywood lobbyist's affair with a newspaper editor ends in a sordid mess.

A Single Hair

After a severely flawed trial, Michael Rivera was convicted of killing a little girl. New DNA evidence may help him.